Page 20 of Love on the Rocks
“Perhaps in the future. Far, far in the future,” Yiannis answered nervously.
I had to bite my cheek to keep from snapping at him. “Well, I’ll just have to ask around then.”
“Not many people speak English,” warned Nikos.
“More than I was initially led to believe though,” I responded, not bothering to address him directly. “Okay, Yiannis. You’ll let me know if something does become available, right?”
“Yes, yes.” He shook his head and moved away, speaking in rapid Greek with Nikos and his other buddies. I wasn’t born yesterday, I knew they were up to something, and if I ever managed to get Yiannis alone, I was sure I’d get it out of him.
I threw another dirty look at Nikos and hefted my bag onto my shoulder. Finding a kitchen was not going to be easy, but I had an idea.
* * *
The old man who ran the taverna gaped at me when I plunked my raffia bag full of produce on one of his barstools and tried to explain to him slowly, with large, exuberant gestures that I would like to use his kitchen.
He drew his heavy gray brows together and stroked his mustache. Then, muttering to himself, he took the bag from me and headed for the kitchen.
“No! Uh . . .ochi!” I cried, racing after him, only to have a small blonde woman wielding a dripping ladle blocking the entrance to the kitchen.
So the chef was a woman. Even better.
I hung back while they argued and waited for her to catch my eye. When she finally did, I pointed to myself and back at her. “Chef.”
I pantomimed cooking to her. She stared at me like I’d lost my mind and tossed her head back with a click of her tongue. I think she thought I was a deranged customer, demanding to cook her own food. But I was determined to win her over. “Me lene Callie. Pos se lene?”
“Maria,” she answered.
“Ah,Maria, to roz ryzi!” I cried, delighted to use one of the random sentences I’d learned from Duolingo. She looked at me like I’d lost my mind, and I couldn’t blame her since I’d just told her the rice was pink. When I then pulled cash out of my wallet and thrust it at her, I was sure she’d call the police. “I’ll pay to use your kitchen.”
I tried to push the money into her hands, but she backed me into the dining room—straight into a pair of hard pecs. I knew even before I glanced over my shoulder who those belonged to.
“Need a translator?” Nikos’s voice rumbled through my back, which for some reason was still glued to him. I leapt away, putting enough distance between us so that I no longer felt him in my bones.
“Like I’d believe anything that comes out of your mouth.” I scoffed and put my hands on my hips. “Are you following me?”
He laughed. “Get over yourself. I’m here for lunch.” He pointed to the fish on the counter—red mullet with beautiful coral scales. “Not bad, huh? Caught them this morning.”
“Oh? Was there wind in your sail this morning?”
“Pretty much every morning, yeah. No problems there. Especially, now that I know I’m the recurring star of your early-morning fantasies.”
I rolled my eyes, embarrassed that I’d fallen straight into that innuendo. “Can we just go back to not speaking to each other, please?”
“Fine.” He sauntered past me into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water out of the beverage refrigerator. I guess he could do whatever he wanted on this island, helping himself to free drinks like he owned the place.
I turned back to Maria. “I can come at times you’re not busy. I’ll pay more. This is all I have on me.”
I waved a hundred euros at her and her eyes got even larger. She said something to Nikos, and he mumbled something back that made her laugh.
“What did you just say?”
He unscrewed the cap off his water and took a big swig, neck muscles working. Why did I want to bury my head there, press my lips against his smooth, warm skin, and bite him? He leaned back against the fridge as I continued to stare at him. “I’m sorry, were you talking to me?”
“Not by choice, but since you refuse to leave, I’d like to know what you said about me.”
“I told Maria that you have a fixation on her kitchen. And that you’re very bossy and used to getting your own way.”
“I am not . . .” I bit my tongue, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of another argument. Just then a man burst into the room looking frazzled and shouted something at Nikos before taking off like he’d been burned. I assumed there was a fire somewhere, but Nikos remained calm, and Maria and her husband looked delighted. “Sorry, have to go. Another emergency.”
